The Perfect Parents' Evening...

[daisymaybe]

I'm a year 1 teacher with my first ever PE coming up soon. Any tips on what you would want to see/ hear from your teacher? A wish list of info you would want them to have at their fingertips?

The parents that I've met so far seem really supportive but I take a bit of Girl Guides approach to teaching in general - be prepared!

Teacher and parent here. I would make notes on each child. Strengths and things they enjoy. Something about how they mix in the class. I would make parents aware of targets/areas of weakness as appropriate to this age group. I think it is lovely to have a comment that shows teacher really knows my child. Anecdote about something that went really well goes down well.
Oh and it's Christmas holidays soon. Enjoy!

I was so disapointed that at dd's yr 1 parents evening we couldnt see her books just one measly photocopied piece of writing I really had liked her EYFS learning journeys and seeing all the things she had made.

I dont know if it is too late but one good thing was when sending out forms asking which day we wanted an appointment there was a box to put in what we wanted to discuss. That might help with 'being prepared' having the right info available, looked good to me as a parent that it was seriously considered

I would start with something positive. Not like ds's teacher at parents' evening last week - "Ds winds up me, other teachers and some of his classmates" were her opening words. If she started by saying that ds scores stunningly high marks in tests but lacks attention and distracts others then I would have found it easier to take. She ended our session by saying "Maybe he is just one of those children who will do very well in tests" as being a negative thing. She could have said that despite ds not being as focused as he should be his test results are good.

I came away with the impression that ds's teacher doesn't like him and that he is clearly bored in class. He is 7. If he was a teenager I'd probably find her comments a little easier to take but to write him off at such a young age made me feel .

I love seeing examples of their work
hamburger approach to feedback - something good, something not so good, something good again -
anything parents can do to help -and had a chat with my DS's teacher recently and they said when not to stuff!

Mollie isn't that just the worst thing? Coming away feeling as though teacher doesn't like your child? Where the hell do you go from there! That happened to us a couple of years ago. Saddest thing was ds really seemed to like her, bless him, and spent the whole time hoping and trying to please her. Grrrrr.

Obviously we had to just smile and wave the whole time, not let him know that she was just, ahem, a humourless dried up old cow and thank the Lord it was job-share!

Sorry OP, a bit off-topic really. I would like to know how they are socially and academically and if you can find an example of something specific as another poster has said - that's great too. Stuff to be working that we could help with ie we got times tables to practice and some other bits. A really nice piece of work ready to show as well, that was lovely.

You sound like a lovely teacher - good luck with it.

I am a parent and used to be a teacher. I preferred to start the meeting by asking the parents if there was something specific they wanted to talk about.

That way they feel that they are listened to and their concerns are important to you. It also means they don't suddenly ask a question that requires a long response at the end when your time with them is running out and you can't really answer it.

I also agree that you should make sure you have specific examples relating to specific children.

Always try to end by pointing out things you enjoy about their child.

(MY ds has mental health problems and his P1 teacher ended our meeting by saying what a nuisance he was )

A positive before a negative! If no negatives, an EBI which I have recently discovered means "even better if..." so basically what to do for the next step etc. i really like to know how to help next step on. So for eg great handwriting. EBI if we get some spaces between words!
Also a bit about social interactions, friendships, attitude, behaviour.

Be as precise and specific as you possibly can. I like to be certain that the teacher knows my child's strengths and weaknesses. I like to hear comments about my DC's personality because it shows the teacher knows them. Quite often I leave these meetings thinking the teachers could have been speaking about anybody.

bit of boasting really but

my dd's first few parents evenings went

really good at literacy
really good a numeracy
a pleasure to have in the class
what more can I say

which was all lovely but a total waste of time and we felt like we were being used as an opportunity to catch up on parents evening appointments if they were running behind time wise

I love posey's suggestion of even better if -I would have really welcomed it

I'd add that I like hard facts rather than platitudes. With some of ds's teachers it has been like doing a cross examination to elicit something that may be of interest. I want to know how he is doing compared to his peers and what I can do to support his learning. I also want to know that the teacher gets the type of personality ds has. The current one doesn't at all, hence the conflict. Last year's teacher did and he had a very good year.

I like to have a look through their books to see what they have been doing. Its also nice to know what their current targets are for literacy and numeracy so I can encourage them at home with those.
Mostly, its just nice to get the impression that the teacher has got to know my children. Mine are age 7 and 9, and at this age, it is unusual for the teacher to tell me anything I don't already know, (eg dd1 is good at maths, struggles with spelling, and can be a bit over sensitive when told off), but its nice to know that the teacher is aware of what they need to work on and that they have a plan